James Tamou

James Tamou

Tamou playing for the New Zealand Māori in 2008
Personal information
Nickname	Jimmy, Aussie Jim
Born	(1988-12-13) 13 December 1988 (age 28) Palmerston North, New Zealand
Height	196 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Weight	114 kg (17 st 13 lb)
Playing information
Position	Prop
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2009–16 North Queensland 170 12 0 0 48 2017– Penrith Panthers 10 0 0 0 0 Total 180 12 0 0 48 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2008–10 New Zealand Māori 2 0 0 0 0 2012–16 Australia 12 2 0 0 8 2012–16 New South Wales 14 0 0 0 0 2017 NSW City 1 1 0 0 4
As of 27 September 2016 Source:

James Tamou (born 13 December 1988) is a New Zealand-born professional rugby league player who currently plays for the Penrith Panthers of the National Rugby League. A prop-forward, Tamou is an Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin and New Zealand Maori rugby league team representative. Tamou previously played for the North Queensland Cowboys between 2009 and 2016, and was a member of their 2015 NRL Premiership winning side.

Born in Palmerston North, New Zealand, Tamou is of Māori and English descent. He began playing junior rugby league in Levin for the Levin Knights in New Zealand. At the age of 13, Tamou moved with his family to Australia. He then played his junior rugby league for the Paddington Tigers and attended Matraville Sports High School in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs.

In 2007, he was the Sydney Roosters Jersey Flegg Cup Player of the Year in 2007 and was selected to play for the Junior Kiwis. Tamou played for the Roosters' NYC team in 2008 and was one of the club's best performers, before signing for the North Queensland Cowboys for the 2009 season. In 2008, he represented New Zealand Maori, when they played Indigenous Dreamtime team in the 2008 World Cup curtain raiser, playing off the interchange bench in the 34–26 loss at Sydney Football Stadium.